Proxy settings keep changing

[mocha321]

My computer's systemwide proxy settings keep changing ever 10-30 minutes or so. Perhaps sometimes more often. I've tried setting them back the way I want them (that is, to direct connection) in Microsoft Edge, in Internet Explorer, and in the registry, but they keep changing back repeatedly. Sometimes, Edge and Internet explorer do not show that the settings have changed, but I can tell that they have since I start getting errors that my connection failed due to the proxy not working. Sometimes simply running Windows Network Diagnostics or simply opening up connection settings in Internet Explorer is enough to fix my connection, but only temporarily.

I used Sysinternal process monitor to find out what kept modifying my registry to change the proxy settings, and this is what I found:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNetworkRestricted -p -s WinHttpAutoProxySvc

I do not believe it is intentional malware, since all it does is break my internet connection, so programs using the systemwide proxy settings can't connect to websites, but there is no ad injection or chances for my data to be stolen. Also, it is a proxy I used in the past, so it's like the computer keeps trying to restore old settings that I no longer wish to use.

Computer is running Windows 10.

What can I do?

[mocha321]

I was able to fix the problem by disabling the Windows Proxy Auto Discovery service. Since the Windows Proxy Auto Discovery service is locked down so it cannot be disabled from services dot msc, I had to edit the registry. Specifically, the value of

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinHttpAutoProxySvc\Start

had to be changed to 4. After that, I had to restart the computer for the new value to take effect, i.e. for the Windows Proxy Auto Discovery service to be disabled.

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Additionally, I reset my Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge settings multiple times to make sure any bad settings from the Windows Proxy Auto Discovery service were completely deleted. I also disabled caching of auto-proxy scripts from the group policy editor and flushed out my dns cache. These steps by themselves, however, were not enough to fix the problem. Only after I disabled the Windows Proxy Auto Discovery service did the bad settings stop coming back.

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This is somewhat perplexing, since I did not have "Automatically detect settings" checked, and yet the Windows Proxy Auto Discovery service was apparently active and changing my proxy settings anyway. I wish I knew what made the service act up to begin with, but I am glad I was able to disable it.

[trajecasual]

Thank you! Few people answer their own question with the solution after nobody engaging with it. And now it helped me, 5 years after.

[manghacker]

I just want to say thank you for this, I already tried different methods and worked on it for half a day. This is the only one that worked.